Gaming Hell Christmas, Volume 3

 Continuing our Books in a Series events, Wild Women Authors presents Gaming Hell at Christmas, Volume 3, with two short Georgian era romances set in and around London during a wicked snowstorm.

 
In The Other Face of the Christmas Shilling by Kathy L Wheeler, Lady Thomasina Staunton takes refuge in an abandoned house as far from London, her friends, and her family, as she can get. But her ruse of an absent husband fighting the French backfires most horribly when when Florentine Comier, former Duc of Bouchard, returns unexpectedly from months of travel.

Not only is he shocked to find a strange woman—who claims to be his wife—living in his home, but learns he’s about to become a father. Hmm.

In About A Christmas Ha'penny's Worth of Love, author Amanda McCabe introduces Lady Elizabeth Rathburn, the shy introvert who hates being separated from her best friends at Miss Greensley's School of Comportment for Young Ladies of Quality—aka Miss Greensley’s Girls—and is forced to remain at her abusive father's cold, lonely estate. Her only respite are the hours she spends with her friend, a handsome young man she only knows as "Mick" who hails from the neighboring estate, but who suddenly takes his leave for the East Indies, never to be heard from again.

Now, years later, after her bully of a father insists she must marry the son of her father’s sworn enemy, to seal a new business deal, she flees to the safety of her beloved Greensley’s Girls. There, trapped in a snowstorm, she rediscovers “Mick”. Joy turns to horror when she learns the only man who ever loved her for herself is about to become her husband—because he too is trapped by the demands of society and a manipulative father. Can they overcome parental machinations and rediscover what matters most to them?

Our Review: There are several things we could say about The Other Face of the Christmas Shilling, starting with when one has a mother like Thomasina Staunton’s, one does not need an enemy. We might also say, there is clearly something special about being a twin, especially an identical twin, with those undefinable ESPish feelings. Last, and most important, is the clear and obvious heroic qualities of Florentin, the Duc de Bouchard. He is the mid-wife we all wished we had, the post-partum nurse we desperately needed, the father every child deserves. This one’s a toe-curling, heart breaker of a romance—and if a smile doesn’t threaten to crack your face while you read this darling story, you might want to check your pulse.

The main theme of About A Christmas Ha'penny's Worth of Love is betrayal—how to overcome, get past it, and survive. Eliza will break your heart while “Mick” warms it. She is the child you want to take into your arms and love for the rest of her days while he is the child who warms that heart, making it burst with pride. Author McCabe explains the not so charming practice of arranged marriages then goes one step beyond, showing us how two deserving people can move on, thrive, and form a more perfect union. Well done!

Based on a scale of 1-5, Gaming Hell at Christmas, vol 3 merits an 8.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews